How Star Search mentor Christopher Lee made his students cry – yes, even the guys
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How Star Search mentor Christopher Lee made his students cry – yes, even the guys
What'due south it like to exist in a Star Search 2022 workshop course? CNA Lifestyle dropped by to see how the veteran actor whipped the semi-finalists into shape. Cue: Lots of sobbing.
Mentor Christopher Lee (third from left) rehearsing a scene with a Star Search contestant. (Photo: Khoo Bee Khim)
30 Sep 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 02:23PM)
The loud bang of hands slamming a table signalled a charged temper. Someone flare-up into tears – non a quiet sobbing but full-on tearful, consummate with snot and shuddering gasps for breath.
And so a deep, familiar voice boomed, cutting through all the drama. "That'due south too much, as well much," someone said, in crisp, Taiwanese-accented Mandarin.
Information technology was the morning of a public holiday – Hari Raya Haji, to exist exact – but inside one clangorous room in Mediacorp, the contestants of Star Search 2022 were far from taking a intermission. Since the proclamation of the 24 actor wannabes, they had been working difficult with their respective mentors, veteran actors Huang Biren, Chen Hanwei and Christopher Lee.
The vox was Lee's and he was holding courtroom in his acting form. "Walk in again," he instructed one of the hopefuls earlier he'd even reached the table where Lee was seated at. The mean solar day had begun at 10am and from the looks of it, information technology was going to be a long and emotionally charged one.
The students were preparing for their respective roles in WeMovie, a six-episode mini-series by directors Jun Chong and Alvin Lee, which will showcase their acting abilities – and determine their fate – come the semi-finals in October.
READ: 'I am a tiger mum': What Star Search contestants can wait from their celebrity mentors
"I desire them to not just act but to feel the emotions of the characters that they're portraying. Simply when you convey the emotions tin you reach and move the audience," the 48-twelvemonth-former leading man explained, when CNA Lifestyle caught him for a conversation during the only break he had for the day.
'THEY HAVE TO CRY'
It was the second class Lee had held for his 8 proteges. According to his personal banana, the previous day's class had ended by 11pm. But the teary eyes, sniffles and seriousness in the room weren't because of the long hours so much equally the script.
"It is an emotionally heavy story to begin with," said Lee, when asked why it was necessary for the contestants to cry. "Also, as humans, crying, forth with laughing, is our basic way of expressing ourselves. A good actor is non 1 who can cry on cue just also express the qualities of the character he plays. The students have to cry as the story is very distressing. If you tin't weep, I would exist worried as y'all tin can't achieve the very basic in interim."
But don't assume that Lee is impressed if you can turn on the waterworks at will. "People think that existence able to cry is expert acting. Simply I've been telling the students that weeping is Acting 101; it doesn't mean you've nailed acting if you tin can cry on cue," he said.
The award-winning player had made the effort to understand the difficulties the students face – even drawing on his own feel as a Star Search contestant back in 1995. "Similar these students, I likewise had one to two months of acting lessons earlier the competition," he recalled. "Simply after the contest, information technology was upward to me to learn further and hone my craft."
For now, his job was to elevate his students' acting abilities on par with each other. "These eight students' standards are different. You demand to dissect the skills you're imparting to them ane-on-one to adapt each educatee's level.
"Language is another gene. Your grasp of the language will determine how well y'all translate the emotions. Some can act but their grasp of the language may non exist strong; others are strong linguistically but may lack the emotional depth, so that's where the difficulty lies. It will be challenging but I hope they can encounter that loftier point."
THE JOY AND SORROW OF Acting
Loftier expectations indeed. For 24-year-sometime teacher Chang Hio Cheng, who hails from Macau, the morning's session had been "emotionally draining". "It wasn't really the experience I'd expected because my mentor's expectations are really, really loftier," she said, her eyes still carmine from all the sobbing.
"I didn't wait I'd cry this much. I really used up my emotions and tried my best to deliver my truthful feelings. I should say I think I did meliorate than what I expected."
Despite the pressure level, Chang is grateful to have Lee as her mentor. "He has been instruction us a lot most how to get into the scene and how to express our truthful self. And he's shared a lot of his feel with us and it'south actually precious," she said.
For Singaporean pupil Herman Keh, it was a therapeutic experience. "I'm not really sensitive to a lot of things. This is a learning betoken for me to be more sensitive to the people around me. I feel that the session but now really hitting me. I felt something and I feel that it's the start of knowing myself and finding myself. It was a very good session for me."
Every bit someone with no background in acting, Keh was buoyed by his mentor'due south belief in him. "I've simply started acting, so I know nothing. Simply (Lee) believes in me more than than I believe in myself and pushes me through to my potential. Whatsoever yous never thought you could do, you lot finish up doing it because of his help."
Lee was glad that his efforts had been appreciated. "Before starting the classes, I'd devised a gear up of skills to impart but I wasn't sure if they were relevant or useful to the students. Just after these few sessions with the contestants, I am relieved because I tin see that they have captivated them."
The veteran actor added that the contestants shouldn't see Star Search as the end all and be all of their interim journey. "Success comes at different times for different people. For the actor who shoots to fame overnight, he will drop off the radar soon plenty if he doesn't continue to work on his craft," he said.
"Some may need to put in x, xx years before they observe the function that catapults them to fame. So the role player who finally catches his break subsequently decades earned it past working hard and preparing himself all this while. It comes down to hard work at the end of the twenty-four hours."
Catch WeMovie on Channel viii and Toggle on October vi and 13, 8pm to 10pm on both days.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/star-search-2019-christopher-lee-234431
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